Rous sarcoma virus-33 (RSV-33) was obtained from a sample of chicken Rous sarcoma which had been dried and stored in 1933. RSV-33, like the RSV-29, has the minimal number of passages beyond its isolation from chicken tumour No. 1. Our experiments demonstrated that the Rous sarcoma virus-33 was replication non-defective and was pathogenic for rats. Established rat tumorigenic cell lines express the viral genome. All three species of viral RNA were detected and v-src proteins and gag polyproteins were identified as well in cells of R9 and R74 lines. The virus can be rescued from cells of R9 and R74 lines, thus indicating that the cells are virogenic. The cells of a permanent tumorigenic line RT1 are infected but not transformed by RSV-33. Although they contain a complete proviral genome, they do not express detectable virus-specific RNA. The virus is not rescuable from RT1 cells under in vivo conditions. Proviral DNA analysis showed that the RSV-33 contained a full-length genome, including the env gene, in contrast to the RSV-29 which was found replication defective.

Cancer Research Institute Slovak Academy of Sciences Bratislava